Promo Only takes top honors (again!)at the 2010 Winter Music Conference
International Dance Music Awards

Trophies are nice. We're not about to say that winning the IDMA's Best Record Pool/Subscription Service award for the fourth consecutive year isn't an honor. But it's the friends we make at the Dance industry's most celebrated event of the year that make it all worthwhile...

Now in its 25th year, Winter Music Conference is where the industry's top artists, producers, labels, and DJs gather for what can best be described as an international summit on Dance Music, poolside -- where Sirius XM, Ultra Records, Island Def Jam, Capitol Records and Promo Only Promotions throw down star-studded parties; and celebrities the likes of Mary J Blige, Traci Lords, BT, Sylvia Tosun, Freedom Williams, Anton Bass, NFL Super Bowl champ Jeremy Shockey, Blake Lewis, Richard Vission, and Kaskade mix, mingle and celebrate the music we call Dance.

It's also where deals are made and the relationships that translate into more music more often for our subscribers are forged.

Did we mention that trophies are nice?

Results were drawn from ballots cast by industry professionals representing 130 countries and announced March 25, 2010 before an international audience at Miami's prestigious Fillmore Theatre.

We'll just say it: This marks the fourth year in a row Promo Only has taken top honors in the Best Record Pool category. We are the only service to have won the award since its inception.
"To be voted best by your peers is very gratifying," said Promo Only executive program director and co-founder Pete Werner. "But our deepest thanks go out to the DJs and VJs who cast their ballot for Promo Only each time they reach for a Promo Only CD or DVD. We're extremely honored by the support our subscribers have shown us over the years."

Also taking home the gold was Promo Only Promotion's Cary Vance and John Suraci, winners of this year's Best Independent Record Promotion/Marketing Award.

"We're very excited to have the industry recognize the effort put forth by all of us here at Promo Only Promotions," said Vance. "Getting a chance to work with today's top artists as well as the up-and-coming stars of tomorrow makes it all that much more rewarding."

This year's award marks the fifth IDMA award for Vance in the independent promotion category; it's Suraci's first IDMA award.

For a closer look at the faces and events that made WMC 2010 an event to remember click here!

Best of Tropical Latin Video Volume 4 brings you over 40 of the hottest Latin artists performing the hottest all-time salsa, meringue, Latin House and reggaeton hits -- all on one DVD.
Please note that many of these videos are produced outside of the U.S. and tend to be a bit more adult than those found on our other series.
For complete tracklistings, click here.

More than just a CD player, American Audio's new Radius 3000 also boasts the ability to handle MP3, SD, and USB; and is a full MIDI controller. Configured to follow the well-established template of today's CD turntables, we found the 3000 instantly familiar.

At your fingertips is the ability to lock and load SD cards, high-density SD cards, USB thumb drives, self-powered hard drives, and a navigation button that whisks you through your source menu.

Likewise the 3000's Folder Knob and Feature Knob make for fast and easy song search, thanks to the Database Management Software American Audio includes – search by song or artist, in alphabetical order, done.

Set as a MIDI controller, the 3000 allows you to control all your favorite audio and video software.

We particularly liked the ultra-bright VFT display and the 3000's ability to offer two lines of text. Having your BPM, Tempo, Folder and Track info available at a single glance is a nice plus, too.

Also noteworthy: Nine onboard effects, variable pitch range, tempo lock and some nice looping and sampling features make for one of the most versatile packages at this price point we've seen.

Want to know how to make a serious name for yourself? Ask Vegas' notorious mash-up king DJ Scotty Boy and he'll tell you variety is key...

"I've always been obsessed with putting my own twist on things," says Scotty Boy. "I try not to do what everyone else is doing. I'm definitely more of a house DJ, but I try to incorporate everything I've learned over the years and apply that to whatever's hot: I play mash-ups, rock, anything to keep the energy up."

Scotty plies his obsession, now a highly successful profession, with a string of multi-residencies at a variety of West Coast and Vegas nightclubs, branding each appearance with the inspired selection and house-rockin' performance that has landed him the #5 slot in the DJ Times America's Best DJ poll for the last two years.

"I was kind of a quiet kid, looking for my place around the other kids," says Scotty of his back in the day. "I went to a school dance, saw the DJ and the gear, and I knew that's what I wanted to do. I started spinning in high school, with friends, badly. I was probably 14, doing teen clubs, high school parties and weddings on the weekends, and graduated to doing club nights for L.A.'s KROQ . That's when things shifted into high gear."

High gear includes a touring schedule that takes Scotty from Vegas to San Diego to San Francisco, Long Beach and Seattle – and that's just this month – as well as a series of best-selling mix compilations and weekly guest shots on Sirius XM's Area.

The big picture?

"Club numbers aren't where they were when everybody was rich and buying bottles of Cristal; but if the economy had remained the same, the club industry would be at an all-time high right now, because the music has totally changed. Electro and house are more popular now than they ever were. I remember when it was house in the main room, hip-hop in the little room. And then hip-hop took over the main room and you were lucky if you had a house room. Now electro is the main room, people are coming out and listening to house DJs again, and that's helping us all out a lot. House is back."

DJ Scotty Boy at a glance...

Specialty: Las Vegas Mash Ups

Known whereabouts: Las Vegas' Rehab, Godskitchen, and Perfecto at Rain

Current track: 4 AM in Vegas, Movement Music, available now on Beatport

Upfront, we have to tell you that the iTM MidiLab application doesn't bring the bling; it's not your typical flashy iPhone app. It is, however, exactly what the good folks at developer Silicon Studios intended – a doorway app that hints at the possibilities of their other more sophisticated music applications.

All of which isn't to say that the MidiLab isn't a powerful tool: MidiLab lets you use your iPhone or iPod touch as a MIDI controller for your favorite audio software, synths or DJ/VJ tools.

Installation is as easy as downloading the software from the iTunes and syncing it to your iPhone.

Next you'll be asked to download a second app that "listens" to the MIDI requests from your iPhone.

Next, open MidiLab, follow the prompts, and you'll be connecting to a myriad of music software programs in a flash, for no cash.

FEATURES AT A GLANCE:

Button Matrix 4 X 4 with MIDI Feedback (Tip: Ableton Live users can use it as clip launcher and it will show which clips are playing)

"A Hard Day's Night" - Although the title was inspired by a comment from Ringo, John wrote the song for Julian, his baby son.

"Hey Jude" -- Paul wrote to cheer Julian when his parents split.

"Eleanor Rigby" - Paul claimed that he made up the story and the name, but there is a gravestone of a woman named Eleanor Rigby in St. Peter's Woolton -- where Paul first met John at a church fair. Could be one of the greatest coincidences of all time.

"Something" - Written by George for his wife, Patti.

"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" - Long after it wouldn't have mattered anyhow, John always insisted that the song had nothing to do with the drug LSD but rather was inspired by a picture painted by a school friend of his son Julian's.

"A Day In The Life" - This song was about many things, but the line "He blew his mind out in a car" was inspired by the death in a car of Tara Browne, an Irish male heir who was related to the Guinness family. Browne was friendly with Paul and other members of the rock aristocracy.

"Things We Said Today" - Written by Paul for Jane Asher. "We'll go on and on." Alas not.

"We Can Work It Out" - Once again for Jane Asher. "Try to see it my way," begged Paul, but she wouldn't.

"You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" - Supposedly written by John "for" Brian Epstein. The love that Epstein had to his was, of course his homosexuality.

"Shes's Leaving Home" - Paul read a story in the papers about teenage runaway Melanie Coe. Her father was quoted as saying "I cannot imagine why she would run away. She has everything here," which has its echo in Paul's line "We gave her everything money could buy." Amazing coincidence: unknown to Paul, he had actually met the girl when he had presented her with a competition prize on Ready Steady Go four years earlier.

"She Said She Said" - Written by John during his acid phase. John got the line "I know what its like to be dead" when he overheard Peter Fonda talking to George about a near-death childhood experience.

"I Saw Her Standing There" - Like the girl in the song, Iris Caldwell was just seventeen when Paul met her while she was dancing at a nightclub. Iris, whose brother was Liverpool musician Rory Storm, went out with Paul for two years.

"Sexy Sadie" - Famously written by John for the Maharishi Mahese Yogi, who, John reckons, "made a fool of everyone" by pretending to be pure when really he was a womanizer.

"Dear Prudence" - Written to encourage Prudence Farrow (Mia Farrow's younger sister) to stop meditating so much - "Won't you come out to play?" during the Beatle's time in India.

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